The invention herein described was made in the course of or under a contract or subcontract thereunder, with the Navy Department.
The present invention relates to a planing seal for a gas cushion vehicle. In particular, this invention relates to apparatus for providing a flexible skirt, that in concert with the vehicles body or hull provides a plenum chamber for the containment of the gaseous fluid cushion.
Air cushion vehicles may have flexible skirt assemblies, made from suitable flexible impermeable material, to act as barriers to the escape of the air cushion. One of the difficulties encountered with state of the art flexible skirt assemblies is that when the vehicle traverses the support surface, the assemblies encounter considerable wear resulting in the constant cost of replacement and vehicle down time.
Another difficulty encountered is the lack of sufficient skirt flexibility to maintain a minimum clearance above the surface when the vehicle develops heave, pitch and roll motions during high forward speeds.
These and other disadvantages have not been successfully overcome until the emergence of the instant invention.